Peel Region high school teachers could strike in May

The union representing Ontario high school teachers has set a strike date for Peel Region, as teachers in Durham Region hit the picket lines for a second day.

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation says teachers in Peel, west of Toronto, will go on strike May 4 if a local collective agreement is not reached with the school board by then.

In Durham Region, east of Toronto, schools remain closed after teachers began a strike Monday, leaving 24,000 students out of class.

This is the first round of negotiations since the province brought in a new bargaining system, with both local and provincial talks.

Centrally, talks resumed Monday between the high school teachers and the province, while the elementary teachers have said their central talks are at an impasse.

The Peel strike date is the third set locally by the OSSTF, with teachers in the Sudbury area in the Rainbow District School Board set to walk out April 27.

The union says members' patience is "wearing thin."

"Our collective agreements expired in August of 2014, and since that time our members have shown a great deal of patience despite the slow pace of bargaining," Mike Bettiol, president of the Peel local of the OSSTF, said in a statement.

"Their work both in and outside of the classroom becomes more demanding all the time, but the employer has refused to address their concerns in any meaningful way at the bargaining table. The school board's approach to bargaining will have to change dramatically if they want to avoid a full withdrawal of services."

The Durham job action is the first full strike by Ontario teachers since the Liberals came to power more than a decade ago.

There were rotating one-day strikes three years ago when the unions were angered by the government's decision to legislate contracts and wage freezes on the teachers.

The relationship has since slowly improved but tension is brewing once again as the Liberals try to eliminate a $10.9-billion budget deficit through measures that include "net zero" increases in contract negotiations, though the unions say there are outstanding issues other than wages.